August 8: God's Gumbo

My kitchen is smelling good right now! We just finished cooking up two big Dutch ovens full of gumbo! Now for those of you unfamiliar with gumbo, it is a southern Louisiana type of stew that starts off with a dark brown roux and is full of good things like bell peppers, onions, garlic, stewed tomatoes and okra; at least a pound each of chicken, smoked sausage and shrimp; seasoned with cayenne red pepper, black pepper, Worcestershire Sauce—served over rice…Ah-yeeee! (That’s Cajun for yee-ha!)

Man, it’s good stuff! All these wonderful ingredients bring out the flavor in each other. I’ve been perfecting the recipe, “tweaking” it here and there, for over 20 years. My Mom is flying in tomorrow and we are getting ready for her. She is in for a treat! For those of us who like to spice it up we’ll have plenty of Tabasco Sauce on hand. So as I’m standing here stirring the pot and thinking about how good God is (thank you, Lord, for gumbo!), I can’t help thinking about how He’s cooking up His own brand of gumbo...

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us…in love… to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…” (Ephesians 1:3-5).

God is putting together this Family of Faith, and though we’re all different, we’re in the same pot together, bringing out the best in each other. Allow me to paraphrase a portion of Scripture…

"The gumbo (Church) is one dish, though it is made up of many wonderful ingredients, and though all its ingredients are many, they form one mouth-watering dish! So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one pot--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the dish is not made up of one ingredient but of many; if the onion should say, "Because I am not a shrimp, I do not belong to the gumbo,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the gumbo. And if the pepper should say, "Because I am not sausage, I do not belong to the gumbo," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the gumbo. If the whole gumbo were a tomato, where would the seasoning be? If the whole gumbo were chicken, where would the Worcestershire Sauce be? But in fact God has selected all the ingredients in His gumbo (Church), every one of them, just as it pleased Him.

If we were all the same ingredient, where would the flavorful gumbo be? As it is, there are many ingredients, but one succulent dish! Now you are the gumbo (Church) of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-20, 27)

If you find my paraphrase irreverent or sacrilegious, please forgive me; I got up early and I'm sleep deprived. But the truth is we’re not intended to do this spiritual journey—this walk of faith—flying solo, but in a community of believers. Do you have a group of believers (church) with whom you share the journey? Every Christ-follower needs a faith-family (church) for encouragement, accountability and companionship. If you’re not in the pot, maybe it’s time to add your own distinctive flavor to God’s gumbo and see how satisfying a life lived in spiritual community can be.

~ Father, thank you for adopting me into your family of faith. Thank you for those You have given me to share this journey. Help us to stay in the pot and bring out the best in each other. Amen.